People

Photo of Cammy R. Abernathy Cammy Abernathy Professor
(352) 392-6000

Ph.D., 1985, Stanford University

Research interests: Synthesis of thin-film electronic materials and devices using metal organic chemical vapor deposition and molecular beam epitaxy.

Photo of Thad Adams Thad Adams Savannah River National Laboratory

University of Tennessee, Bachelor of Science, Materials Science & Engineering

University of Florida, Masters of Science, Materials Science & Engineering

University of Florida, Ph.D., Materials Science & Engineering

Thad M. Adams is the Savannah River National Laboratory Director of Strategic Development and Innovation. Dr. Adams is developing the advanced manufacturing competency at SRNL, with specific emphasis on process intensification, smart manufacturing, and enterprise modeling in support of programmatic initiatives.…

Photo of Assel Aitkaliyeva Assel Aitkaliyeva Associate Professor
(352) 846-3778

Ph.D., 2012, Texas A&M University

Research Interests: Nuclear Fuels and Materials, with emphasis on characterization and property evaluation; Mechanical and Thermal properties of materials; Reactor Irradiation; Radiation damage in materials; Ion Implantation; Kinetics; Composites; Nanostructured materials; Multi-Scale simulation of nuclear fuel.

Lab Website: MAterials for Nuclear Advancement and Technology in Extreme Environments (MANATEE) Group

Photo of Jennifer S. Andrew Jennifer Andrew Associate Dean for Research at Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering
(352) 846-3345

Ph.D., 2008, University of California, Santa Barbara

Research Interests: nanomaterials, nanocomposites for electronic and biomedical applications, magnetic materials, multiferroics, polymers

Lab Website: Andrew Research Group

Photo of Thomas Angelini Thomas Angelini Affiliate Faculty
(352) 392-6438

Ph.D., 2005, University of Illinois

Research Interests: Collective cell motion, mechanical instabilities in tissue cell assemblies, bacterial biofilm physics, soft matter physics, biomolecular self-assembly, and tribology of soft matter interfaces

Photo of Jess Atkins Jess Atkins Dominion Energy

Jess Atkins, MBA, has been working in nuclear power plants for the last decade.  While in nuclear power, Jess has worked as a corporate systems engineer, plant systems engineer, plant design engineer, auxiliary operator, responsible engineer (lead project engineer) and assistant project manager. From Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) training to designing and implementing new systems at the plant to replacing legacy systems like the turbine generator and the automatic voltage regulator, Jess has a wealth of knowledge of nuclear power plant life.…

Photo of James Baciak James Baciak Professor, Florida Power and Light Professor
(352) 273-2131

Research Interests: Applied aspects of cargo monitoring, detector testing and characterization for gamma-ray spectroscopy, as well as development and analysis of techniques for environmental sampling and surveys related to on-site inspections.

Photo of Christopher Batich Christopher Batich Emeritus Faculty
(352) 392-6630

Ph.D., 1974, Rutgers University

Research Interests: Delivery methods for stem cells, Antimicrobial surface modifications, Nanoparticles for gene delivery, Polymeric drug delivery

Lab Website: Batich Research Group

Photo of Allyson Beatty Allyson Beatty Academic Advisor II
(352) 846-3314
Photo of Steven Biegalski Steven Biegalski Georgia Institute of Technology

Steven Biegalski is the Chair of the Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and Medical Physics Program at Georgia Institute of Technology. He has three degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Maryland, University of Florida, and the University of Illinois, respectively. Early in his career, Dr. Biegalski was the Director of Radionuclide Operations at the Center for Monitoring Research.…

Photo of Anthony B. Brennan Anthony Brennan Emeritus Faculty

Ph. D., 1990, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Research Interests: Biointerfaces, antifouling, polymer surfaces/modification, polymer networks, microtopographies, tissue engineering

Photo of Megan Butala Megan Butala Assistant Professor
(352) 294-7876

Ph.D., 2017, University of California, Santa Barbara

Research Interests: Energy Storage Materials, Lithium-ion Batteries, Structure-Property Relationships, X-ray Diffraction, Pair Distribution Function Analysis

Lab Website: Butala Research Group

Photo of Krista Chisholm Krista Chisholm Research Assistant Scientist

Ph.D., 2019, University of Florida

Research Interests: Engineering Education; Biomaterials for Tissue Regeneration

Photo of Mary Church Mary Church Senior Director of Development
(352) 294-7988
Photo of Heather Connaway Heather Connaway X-energy

Heather currently works at X-energy as Lead, Microreactor Module, in the Government R&D Division. In this role, she coordinates the multidisciplinary engineering team performing reactor design for X-energy’s transportable microreactor technology. Prior to joining X-energy, she spent a decade at Argonne National Laboratory, where she was the manager of multimillion-dollar programs related to reactor design, software development, and fuel development and testing.…

Photo of Guilhem De Hoe Guilhem De Hoe Assistant Professor
(352) 273-0264

Ph.D., 2019, University of Minnesota

Research Interests: Dynamic Networks, Polyesters, and Biodegradation

Photo of Dan DeBoer Dan DeBoer NextEra Energy, Inc.
Photo of Robert T. DeHoff Robert DeHoff Emeritus Faculty

Ph.D., 1959, Carnegie Mellon University

Photo of Luisa Amelia Dempere Luisa Dempere Engineer and Director of the HWCOE Research Service Centers
(352) 846-2200

Ph. D., 1999, University of Florida (2000)

Research Interest: materials characterization and analysis, sustainable materials, sustainability in engineering.

Photo of Elizabeth DeStephens Elizabeth DeStephens Black Knight Energy, LLC

Elizabeth has over 20 years of experience in the energy industry and has served in a lead technical capacity for more than $10 billion of transactions and financings. She was previously Vice President – Reserves & Corporate Development and Vice President – Strategic Analytics at California Resources Corporation. Prior to CRC, she had progressive technical and commercial roles with Occidental Petroleum, Raymond James, Ryder Scott, ExxonMobil and General Electric.…

Photo of Andreas Enqvist Andreas Enqvist Florida Power and Light Professor, Associate Professor
(352) 294-2177

Ph.D., 2010, Chalmers, University of Technology, Sweden

Research Interests: Nuclear safeguards, detection statistics of radiation from fissile materials, and the physics behind particle-detector interactions. Neutron physics & detectors. Neutron noise signals. Radiation signal analysis

Lab Website: Enqvist Research Group

Photo of Austin Evans Austin Evans Affiliate Faculty

Ph.D., Northwestern University, 2020

Research Interests: Polymeric Materials, Semiconductors and Energy Storage Materials. 

Photo of Victoria Evans Victoria Evans Research Administrator II
(352) 273-0282
Photo of Michael Fensin Michael Fensin Los Alamos National Laboratory

Dr. Michael Lorne Fensin is a staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Michael’s areas of research include Monte Carlo code and methods development, radiation signature and detector characterization for homeland security and nonproliferation, space and terrestrial reactor design, reactor burnup, and radiation effects and shielding design. Michael was an MCNP code developer and class instructor for over a decade.…

Photo of Tahara Franklin Tahara Franklin Academic Advisor III
352-846-3313
Photo of Darren Gale Darren Gale X-energy

 Darren Gale, Vice President, Commercial Operations and ARDP Program Manager for X-energy ($2.5B Advanced Reactor Demonstration program at Energy Northwest), has been actively involved in the Nuclear Power industry for over 37 years, including Executive Management for the past 20 years. His significant profit/loss responsibilities span Fuels, Services, Engineering and Maintenance businesses.…

Photo of Brent Gila Brent Gila Affiliate Faculty
(352)273-2245

Ph.D., 2000, University of Florida

Research Interests: Semiconductor and dielectric growth and characterization, graphene, solid-state sensors, focused ion beam processing, molecular beam epitaxy of materials, wide bandgap semiconductor materials, materials characterization, gate dielectrics, high-power/high-temperature device fabrication and testing

Photo of Kevin Gilley Kevin Gilley Laboratory and Safety Manager
352-846-3339
Photo of Laurie B. Gower Laurie Gower Emeritus Faculty

Ph. D., 1997, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Research Interests: Biomimetic synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid composite materials; biomineralization- processes and structure; biomimetic bone graft substitutes; kidney stone formation; phage display for bioelectronic materials interfaces

Lab Website: Gower Biomimetics Laboratory

Photo of Hitomi Yamaguchi Greenslet Hitomi Greenslet Affiliate Faculty
(352) 392-0812

Ph.D., 1996, Utsunomiya University, Japan

Research Interests: magnetic field-assisted finishing, surface functionalization and characterization, ultra-precision surface finishing of optics, surface and edge finishing of capillary tubes, catheter shafts and stents, medical device development (such as polymeric heart valve prostheses and biopsy needles)

Photo of Yijia Gu Yijia Gu Assistant Professor
352-273-0292

Yijia Gu, Ph.D., received his doctorate in materials science and engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 2014. Prior to joining UF, he served as a faculty member at Missouri University of Science and Technology for six years. He also held positions as Senior and Staff Engineer at Alcoa Technical Center (now Arconic Technology Center), where he led projects in computational alloy design and process optimization.…

Photo of Mark Haberman Mark Haberman Operations Manager
(352) 273-0265
Photo of Bob Hadba Bob Hadba Alcon Laboratories

Ahmad Robert “Bob” Hadba, Ph.D., MBA is a Senior Director of R&D Projects at Alcon Laboratories, Inc. Fort Worth, Texas. In this role, Bob is leading a cross-functional multi-site team charged with developing and clinically validating the performance of a new Modular Intraocular Lens Platform designed to optimize the refractive outcomes of post-cataract surgery patients. Bob began his career at Alcon in 2012 as the Director of Materials Research.…

Photo of Ira Harkness Ira Harkness Instructional Assistant Professor
352-846-3329

Ph.D., 2018, University of Florida

Research Interests: Monte Carlo methods; neutron transport; nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation

Photo of Kyle C. Hartig Kyle Hartig NE Research Coordinator, Associate Professor
(202) 270-4721

Ph.D., 2016, Pennsylvania State University

Research Interests: Remote Sensing, Nuclear Nonproliferation/counterproliferation, Nuclear Security, and Nuclear Policy

Lab Website: Hartig Research Group

Photo of Richard Hennig Richard Hennig Professor, Alumni Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
(352) 392-7327

Ph.D., 2000, Washington University in St. Louis

Research interests: Computational materials science, ab-initio methods, structure prediction algorithms, two-dimensional materials, materials for energy technologies, solid-liquid interfaces

Lab Website: Hennig Materials Theory Lab

Photo of Matthew Herrick Matthew Herrick End User Computing Specialist II
(352) 846-2496
Photo of Diane Hickey Diane Hickey Diamond Chameleon Group
Photo of Eric Hill Eric Hill IT Generalist II
352-273-1812
Photo of Jennifer Hite Jennifer Hite Professor
(352) 273-3714

Ph.D., 2006, University of Florida

Research Interests: Growth and Characterization of Wide and Ultra-wide Bandgap Semiconductor Materials

Photo of Sarah Houghton Sarah Houghton Research Administrator III
(352) 846-3336
Photo of Yong Huang Yong Huang Affiliate Faculty
(352) 392-5520

Ph.D., 2002, Georgia Institute of Technology

Research Interests: design and fabrication of microphysiological systems; manufacture of substance-encapsulated polymeric microgels/microspheres/microcapsules; 3D printing of biological and engineering structures from difficult-to-print materials using ink jetting, extrusion and laser-induced forward transfer

Photo of Kostadin Ivanov Kostadin Ivanov North Carolina State University

Dr. Kostadin Ivanov is currently Professor and Department Head of Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University. Dr. Ivanov received a B.S. in nuclear engineering from the Moscow Institute of Power Engineering, Russia. He received his Ph.D. in reactor physics from the Institute of Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy (INRNE), Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He was senior research scientist at INRNE and an assistant professor at the Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria.…

Photo of Kevin S. Jones Kevin Jones MSE Graduate Coordinator, Distinguished Professor, Frederick N. Rhines Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
(352) 846-3301

Ph. D., 1987, University of California, Berkeley

Research Interests: Semiconductor Processing and electron microscopy characterization; Ion implantation of Si, Ge and compound semiconductors; Li ion battery anode and cathode development

Lab Website: Swamp Group

Impact of Materials on Society (IMOS) is on Instagram!

Dr. Kevin S. Jones is a Distinguished Professor and holds the Fredrick N Rhines Chair in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at UF.…

Photo of Nekia Jones Nekia Jones Assistant to the Department Chair
352-294-1369
Photo of Sonya Jones Robinson Sonya Jones Robinson HR Generalist II
(352) 846-3769
Photo of Marie Kane Marie Kane Sandia National Laboratory

As the senior manager for Sandia’s Advanced and Exploratory (A&E) teams, Marie Kane provides leadership for her management team and strategy development and execution for the Advanced and Exploratory Systems Departments that support technology development and maturation for the Nuclear Deterrence (ND) mission. The A&E program at Sandia is responsible for developing next-generation weapon architectures that support anticipated adversarial threats and defend against technology surprises.…

Photo of Margaret Kayo Margaret Kayo Scientific Affairs and Regulatory Affairs

Margaret has over 20 years of medical product experience in combination medical devices, medical devices and pharmaceutical products.  She currently runs a consulting business focusing on Scientific Affairs and Regulatory Affairs in the Combination Device, Medical Device, and Pharmaceutical industries.

Margaret holds an MBA from the University of California-Irvine, where she focused on strategy, and BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees from the University of Florida Materials Sciences and Engineering Department, with her dissertation research centered on drug delivery from and surface modification of implantable biomaterials.

Photo of Honggyu Kim Honggyu Kim Assistant Professor
(352) 846-3766

Ph.D., 2015, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Research Interests: Advanced electron microscopy techniques, Quantitative analysis of electron microscopy data, Digital image processing, Understanding materials properties at the atomic scale, Functional oxides and semiconductors

Lab Website: Kim Electron Microscopy Group

Photo of Tyler Lenzi Tyler Lenzi Micron Technology

Tyler Lenzi received a B.S. in Materials Science Engineering from Washington State University (Pullman, Washington USA) in 1995 and finished his M.S. in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Florida (Gainesville, Florida, USA) in 1997.

Mr. Lenzi has over 23 years of semiconductor manufacturing experience. He currently manages the Yield Enhancement, Data Science, Process Control, Corporate TEM Lab, and Wafer Level Testing teams for technology development at Micron Technology Inc.…

Photo of Beth Lewis Beth Lewis Wyman Gordon (Retired)

B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering, University of Florida, 1980

M.S. in Material Science & Engineering, WPI, 1994

Director of Technology Programs for Wyman Gordon (a PCC company)

Began her career in 1980 at Wyman Gordon and has held various technical roles. Works in Superalloy and Titanium Forging development with a focus on Nickle-based Superalloy powder metallurgy, production, forging and heat treatment for Aviation Markets.…

Photo of Heyi Liang Heyi Liang Assistant Professor 

Education: Ph.D. 2019, University of Akron

Research Interest: Computational Soft Materials, Structure-Property Relation of Soft Materials, Polymer Physics, Bio-Inspired and Biomimetic Materials, Sustainable Polymers, Colloidal Suspensions.

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Ni63IhwAAAAJ&hl=en

ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8308-3547

Photo of Azaree Lintereur Azaree Lintereur Los Alamos National Laboratory

Dr. Azaree Lintereur joined the Nuclear Engineering Department at Penn State University as an Assistant Professor in August 2017 and is developing a radiation detection based research program. Prior to joining Penn State University Dr. Lintereur was at the University of Utah, where she established a radiation detection laboratory. Prior to becoming a faculty member, Dr.…

Photo of James Marotta James Marotta Alcon Research, LLC.

Currently Senior Director of IOL Projects at Alcon Research, LLC., James Marotta has also held research and medical affairs positions at Novartis, Medtronic and Smith & Nephew.  Recipient of the Novartis 2018 VIVA Leading Science Award. More than 20 years of technical development knowledge and research experience with both medical devices and drug/device combination products. Author of 37 peer-reviewed journal publications and society abstracts, as well as five issued U.S.…

Photo of Steve McDanels Steve McDanels NASA (Retired)

Steve McDanels received his degree in Materials Science and Engineering, with a specialization in metallurgical engineering, from the University of Florida. His professional career began as a materials engineer performing failure analysis and crash investigations of navy and marine rotor-wing and fixed-wing aircraft. He also served as an adjunct professor of metallurgy at Pensacola Junior College.…

Photo of Chris McDevitt Chris McDevitt Associate Professor
(352) 846-3785

Ph.D., 2008, University of California San Diego
Research Interests: Computational and Theoretical Plasma Physics, Magnetic and Inertial Confinement Fusion, Plasma Turbulence, Momentum Transport, Runaway Electrons, Monte Carlo Methods

Lab Website: McDevitt Lab

Photo of John J. Mecholsky ,Jr. John Mecholsky Emeritus Faculty
(352) 846-3306

Ph. D., 1973, Catholic University of America

Research Interests: Fracture of Brittle Materials; Fractal Geometry applied to fracture; Failure Analysis; Dental Ceramics; Biomedical Applications

Photo of April Miller April Miller Fiscal Assistant II
(352) 846-3331
Photo of Tori Miller Tori Miller MSE Research Coordinator, Associate Professor, Vladimir A. Grodsky Professor of MSE
(352) 846-3373

Ph.D., 2016, University of California Santa Barbara

Research Interests: Fundamentals of Structural Evolution in Crystalline Materials, Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques, Recovery and Crystallization, Deformation Mechanisms and Texture Development

Lab Website: Metallic Orientation, aNisotropy, and microSTructure Engineering Research (MONSTER) Group

Photo of Joshua Moon Joshua Moon Affiliate Faculty
901-569-7522

RESEARCH SUMMARY

Our group focuses on designing advanced polymer materials for clean energy, clean water, and environmental sustainability.  We combine modular polymer synthesis with experimental tools that probe both molecular-scale and macroscopic transport in polymers with the goal of informing predictive design of the next generation of materials for membrane-driven separations.

A few areas of interest to our group are:

Predicting gas separation membrane performance in realistic environments

Polymer membranes offer a competitive option for energy-efficient carbon capture and hydrocarbon purification; however, many promising materials developed in the lab fail to perform as well in the field. …

Photo of Donna Moore Donna Moore Admin. Support Assistant II
(352) 846-1376
Photo of Brij M. Moudgil Brij Moudgil Emeritus Faculty
(352) 846-1194

Eng. Sc. D. 1981, Columbia University

Research Interests: Engineered particulate systems for enhanced performance in nano and bio technologies, micro-electronics, advanced materials and minerals, photocatalytic degradation of hazardous microbes, nanotoxicity, and greener reagents and particle technologies

Photo of Prajakatta Mulay Prajakatta Mulay Instructional Assistant Professor
(352) 846-3307

Ph.D., 2019, University of Akron
 
Research Interests: Polymer Synthesis and Characterization, Biomaterials, Enzyme Catalysis, High-Throughput Data-Driven Techniques, Machine Learning

Photo of Ananth Naman Ananth Naman Cabot Microelectronics

Ananth Naman has served as our Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Cabot Microelectronics since January 2015. Previously, Dr. Naman was our Vice President of Research and Development since January 2011. Prior to that, Dr. Naman was our Director of Product Development starting in April 2009 and Director of Pads Technology from January 2006 through March 2009.…

Photo of Sam Navarro Sam Navarro Assistant Professor
(352) 846-3318

Ph.D., 2020, University of Michigan

Research Interests: Polymer Synthesis, Hydrogels, Drug Delivery, Bioprinting, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Photo of Mano Nazar Mano Nazar AeroEquity Industrial Partners

Mr. Nazar is an Operating Partner at AE Industrial, bringing over 35 years of extensive nuclear industry experience. Mr. Nazar currently serves as Chairman of the Board of BHI, an AE Industrial portfolio company.

Prior to joining AE Industrial in 2020, Mr. Nazar was president of the nuclear business unit at NextEra Energy, Inc., and currently serves as a consultant.…

Photo of Angelika Neitzel Angelika Neitzel Rhines Rising Star Robert DeHoff Assistant Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
(352) 294-6609

Ph.D., 2017, University of Minnesota

Research Interests: polymer synthesis; structure and phase behavior of charged polymer blends and solutions; small angle scattering; rheology and additive manufacturing

Photo of Jyothier Nimmagadda Jyothier Nimmagadda Research Assistant Scientist
(352) 294-2102

Ph.D., 2015, Idaho State University
 
Research Interests: Reactor Physics Experiments, Non-destructive radiation imaging, Monte-Carlo Methods, Pre and Post Irradiation Analysis, Medical Imaging, Radiation Detection

Photo of Juan Claudio Nino Juan Claudio Nino Professor
(352) 846-3787

Ph. D., 2002, The Pennsylvania State University

Research Interests: Multifunctional ceramics; energy materials; dielectrics and ionic conductors in bulk and thin film; single crystal growth; nuclear materials and detectors; bioceramics

Lab Website: Nino Research Group (NRG)

Photo of David P. Norton David Norton Professor and Vice President of Research
(352) 392-9271

Ph. D., 1989, Louisiana State University

Research Interests: Electronic, photonic, and magnetic thin film materials; electronic oxide materials; thin film deposition

Photo of Holly O’Ferrell Holly O’Ferrell Associate Director, Administrative Services
(352) 294-6784
Photo of Heather Ohm-Rodriguez Heather Ohm-Rodriguez Vice President of Global Supply Chain at Johnson & Johnson

Rodriguez is currently Vice President of Global Supply Chain for the Electrophysiology at Johnson & Johnson, based in the United States. She brings extensive experience from various leadership roles within Johnson & Johnson. Heather holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida and an MBA from Florida International University.…

Photo of Pierre Oneid Pierre Oneid EnergySolutions

Mr. Pierre Paul Oneid is the Executive Vice President of Business Development at EnergySolutions, a premier leader in nuclear waste management, decommissioning, and project services. He was previously Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer of Holtec International. Mr. Oneid earned an Executive Master of Business Administration from Queens University in Canada in 1998 and a B.A.…

Photo of Kristina Ortiz Kristina Ortiz HR Generalist I
(352) 294-9742
Photo of Kevin Otto Kevin Otto Affiliate Faculty
(352) 294-2227

Ph.D., 2003, Arizona State University

Research Interests: Neural engineering, device-tissue interfaces and neurostimulation

Photo of Stephen J. Pearton Stephen Pearton Emeritus Faculty
(352) 846-1086

Ph. D., 1983, University of Tasmania

Research Interests: Semiconductor processing, devices, thin film transistors, solid state sensors

Photo of Ricardo Perez Ricardo Perez Westinghouse/Tennessee Valley Authority (Retired)

Ric is an accomplished executive leader with a successful career in electricity markets, engineering businesses, and critical infrastructure management in both the private and public sectors. He was with Westinghouse for 32 years rising to the position of President and COO where his duties spanned every facet of the energy cycle from fuel, manufacturing, plant design, construction, maintenance, and decommissioning.…

Photo of Michael Phillips Michael Phillips Operations Specialist
(352) 273-1817
Photo of Simon R. Phillpot Simon Phillpot Associate Department Chair, Distinguished Professor
(352) 846-3782

Ph.D., 1985, University of Florida

Research Interests: Computational materials science; heat transport; nuclear materials; ferroelectrics and dielectrics; mechanical properties of metals; simulation methodologies

Lab Website: Phillpot Research Group

Photo of Wally Rhines Wally Rhines Cornami, Inc.

WALDEN C. RHINES is President and CEO Emeritus of Cornami, Inc., a fabless software/semiconductor company focused on intelligent computing for fully homomorphic encryption and machine learning. He was previously CEO of Mentor Graphics for 25 years and Chairman of the Board for 17 years. During his tenure at Mentor, revenue nearly quadrupled and the market value of the company increased 10X.…

Photo of Carlos Rinaldi-Ramos Carlos Rinaldi-Ramos Affiliate Faculty
(352) 392-0881

Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002

Research Interests: Biomedical applications of magnetic nanoparticles; fundamental fluid physics of suspensions of magnetic nanoparticles; magnetic nanoparticle synthesis and functionalization; suspension hydrodynamics and rheology.

Photo of Nabby Rivera Nabby Rivera Academic Assistant II
(352) 846-3315
Photo of Nicholas Rudawski Nicholas Rudawski Affiliate Faculty
(352) 392-3077

Ph.D., 2008, University of Florida

Interests: transmission electron microscopy of complex oxides and semiconductors, electrochemical studies of elemental semiconductors for Li-ion battery applications;  joined the Research Service Centers in August of 2012 as service/teaching faculty, where he primarily oversees the transmission electron microscopes and dual-beam scanning electron microscope/focused ion beams

Photo of Nancy J Ruzycki Nancy Ruzycki Master Lecturer, Director of Undergraduate Laboratories
(352) 846-2991

Ph.D., 2003, Tulane University

Research Interests: Engineering education, characterization techniques, surface physics, solid-state devices, dye-sensitized solar cells.

Photo of Aroba Saleem Aroba Saleem MSE Undergrad Coordinator, Instructional Associate Professor
(352) 294-1789

Ph.D., McGill University, 2017

Research Interests: Engineering Education; Material Characterization; Non-destructive Evaluation (Electromagnetic Measurements); Structure-Property Relationship; Micromagnetics

Photo of Christine E. Schmidt Christine Schmidt Affiliate Faculty
(352) 273-9222

Ph.D., 1995, University of Illinois

Research Interests: biomaterials for neural tissue regeneration and neural interfacing

Photo of DuWayne Schubring DuWayne Schubring Instructional Professor
(352) 294-7870

Ph.D., 2009, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research Interests: Two-phase flow, nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics, quantitative visualization, nuclear reactor safety, computational and numerical methods including coupled codes, advanced nuclear power systems

Photo of Iris Schumacher Iris Schumacher Kimberly-Clark Professional

Dr. Iris V. Schumacher is the R&D Manager for Global Product Development at Kimberly-Clark Professional.  She is responsible for the leadership of a global team that drives end-to-end innovation for the critical hygiene categories of skincare, wipers, and towel/bath tissue supporting the Kleenex®, Cottonelle®, Scott®, and WypAll® brands. Iris has an incredible passion for building exceptional teams by fostering a team culture that enables people to bring their best selves to their work and cultivates excitement to drive results. …

Photo of Wolfgang Sigmund Wolfgang Sigmund Professor
(352) 846-3343

Ph.D., 1992, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany

Research Interests: Semiconductor oxides for energy harvesting and storage, photocatalysis and photolysis, electrodes for secondary batteries, barrier coatings, nanostructures in surface science and, biomedical applications of nanoparticles

Lab Website: Sigmund’s Group

Photo of Ravit Silverstein Ravit Silverstein Assistant Professor
(352) 294-1690

Ph.D., 2016,

Research Interests: High-temperature Materials; Metastability and Interface Engineering; Electron Microscopy; In-situ Microscopy; Microstructure Evolution; Deformation Behavior and Mechanical Performance in Extremes; Green Processing & Energy

Photo of Brandi Simmons Brandi Simmons Fiscal Assistant I
(352) 392-6667
Photo of Deepika Singh Deepika Singh R&D Investment Holdings

Deepika Singh is the Founder and former CEO of Sinmat- a company specializing in novel planarization processes for the semiconductor chip industry.  These processes are currently being used by leading global companies in some of the fastest-growing markets involving the manufacturing of smartwatches, smartphones advanced silicon carbide and gallium nitride electronics for electric vehicles, 5G communications infrastructure and advanced defense electronics.…

Photo of Rajiv K. Singh Rajiv Singh Emeritus Faculty

Ph. D., 1989, North Carolina State University

Research Interests: Semiconductor Processing; Oxide thin films; III-V Semiconductors; Ultra-hard materials; Emerging advanced materials; laser processing

Photo of Douglas E. Spearot Douglas Spearot Affiliate Faculty
(352) 392-6747

Ph.D., 2005, Georgia Institute of Technology

Research Interests: Mechanics of Materials, Dislocations, Grain Boundaries, Diffraction, Modeling and Simulation, High Performance Computing

Photo of Ghatu Subhash Ghatu Subhash Affiliate Faculty
(352) 392-7005

Ph.D., 1991, University of California San Diego

Research Interests: multiaxial deformation behavior and microstructural characterization of advanced structural ceramics, ultrahard materials, biomaterials, gels, transparent materials, ultra-high temperature materials, nuclear materials, metallic glasses, 3D woven composites, structural foams, nanostructured materials, plastically graded materials (case hardened steels), and refractory metals, processing-structure-property relationships in ultrahard ceramics, transitional metal diborides, and enhanced accident-tolerant high thermal conductivity nuclear ceramic fuels

Photo of James Talton James Talton Alchem Corporation

James D. Talton, Ph.D., is the President and CEO of Alchem Laboratories Corporation. Prior to joining Alchem, Dr. Talton served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Nanotherapeutics, Inc. for seventeen years. He also is President of Nanopharmaceutics, Inc., President of Discovery Cure Institute, Inc., a Florida non-profit Corporation and serves on the Alumni Advisory Board for the University of Florida Department of Materials Science & Engineering.…

Photo of Michael Tonks Michael Tonks Interim Department Chair, Professor, Alumni Professor of Materials Science & Engineering
(352) 846-3779

Ph.D., 2008, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Research Interests: Computational materials science, Computational mechanics, Coevolution of microstructure and properties, Materials in Harsh Environments, Mesoscale modeling and simulation, Nuclear materials, Numerical methods

Lab Website: Tonks Research Group

Photo of James S. Tulenko James Tulenko Emeritus Faculty

M. E., 1963, Mass. Inst. of Technology M.E.A. 1980, Geo. Washington Univ.

Research Interests: nuclear fuel cycle, focusing on the processing, fabrication and in core and excore performance of nuclear fuel, multi-scale simulation of nuclear Fuel, economic and environmental evaluation of all forms of electrical energy generation

Photo of Sarah Van Ess Sarah Van Ess Admin Support Assistant I
(352) 846-3341
Photo of Wilfred Vermerris Wilfred Vermerris Affiliate Faculty
(352) 273-8162

Ph.D., 1999, North Carolina State University

Research Interests: Phenolic compound biochemistry, lignin formation in plants, nanomaterials for the delivery of therapeutic nucleic acids, sweet sorghum for the biofuel industry

Photo of Don Wall Don Wall Director, UF Training Reactor (UFTR), Professor of Practice
(352) 273-2662

Ph.D. 2001, Florida State University

Photo of Nathalie Wall Nathalie Wall Interim Nuclear Engineering Program Director
(352) 273-0279

Ph.D., 1993, University of Paris, XI

Research Interests: Radiochemistry, Nuclear Wastes, Nuclear Forensics, Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Environmental Behavior of Radionuclides

Lab Website: Wall Research

Photo of Justin Watson Justin Watson Associate Professor
(352) 273-0241

Ph.D., 2010, Penn State University

Research Interests: Reactor Kinetics and Dynamics, Neutronics, Thermal Hydraulics, Multiphysics Simulation, Advanced Numerical Methods, Applied Mathematics, Advanced Code Coupling Techniques, Scientific Software Development, High Performance Computing

Lab Website: Florida Advanced Multiphysics Modeling and Simulation (FAMMoS) Lab

Photo of Dow Whitney Dow Whitney Emeritus Faculty
Photo of Chris Widenhouse Chris Widenhouse AtriCure, Inc.

Chris Widenhouse, Ph.D., was a graduate student and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering from 1990 through 2001.
Dr. Widenhouse graduated from the University of Florida with an M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering in 1996. He also holds a B.S. in MSE from North Carolina State University and an MBA from Pennsylvania State University.…

Photo of Katelyn Williams Katelyn Williams Fiscal Assistant II
(352) 846-3783
Photo of Bryan Wilson Bryan Wilson Bryan Wilson IP Law, PLLC

Bryan Wilson is a registered patent attorney and founder of Bryan Wilson IP Law, PLLC, where he counsels clients on all aspects of intellectual property.

Bryan’s business, legal, and engineering experience enables him to effectively communicate with executives, in-house counsel and inventors. In addition to representing clients in district court litigation, Bryan has served as lead attorney in post-grant trials before the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and has drafted licensing agreements for universities, private entities and governments.…

Photo of Jiangeng Xue Jiangeng Xue Professor
(352) 846-3775

Ph.D., 2005, Princeton University

Research Interests: Nanostructured electronic materials, organic-inorganic hybrid materials, surfaces and interfaces, energy materials, photovoltaic cells, light-emitting diodes and other optoelectronic devices

Lab Website: Xue Research Group

Photo of Vishal Yadav Vishal Yadav Research Assistant Scientist

Ph.D., 2018, KU Leuven, Belgium

Research Interests: microstructure modeling using the phase-field method and machine learning-based approaches

Photo of Yang Yang Yang Yang Research Assistant Scientist
(906) 370-0273

Ph.D., 2020, Michigan Technological University

Research Interests: Mechanical Behavior, Kinetics, Crystallographic Properties, Materials Processing and Characterization

Photo of Yong Yang Yong Yang NE Graduate Coordinator, Associate Professor
(352) 846-3791

Ph. D., 2005, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research Interests: structural and fuel materials for nuclear energy systems; LWRs sustainability and aging management; advanced fabrication and joining technologies; used fuel dry storage and disposition.

Lab Website: MAterials for Nuclear Advancement and Technology in Extreme Environments (MANATEE) Group

Photo of Isabel Zadezensky Isabel Zadezensky Research Administrator III, Post-Award
(352) 273-3841
Photo of Matthew J. Zaluzec Matthew Zaluzec Adjunct Faculty

Ph.D., 1991, University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana

Interests: advanced material science, manufacturing process development, and high-temperature materials testing & characterization

Photo of Michael Zamora Michael Zamora ExxonMobil

Mike P. Zamora is Senior Vice President of ExxonMobil Chemical Company, located in Houston, Texas. In this position, he is responsible for the company’s future growth, integration with other parts of the corporation and oversees the Basic Chemicals and Catalyst & Licensing global business units.

Prior to his current position, Mike was Manufacturing Director, Americas, ExxonMobil Chemical Company, located in Houston.…